FROM THIS EPISODE

David Rakoff died a week ago, on August 9, 2012. He'd appeared on This American Life 25 times, first in 1996, during the third month of the show; his last appearance was just weeks ago. He was on the program so often that in putting together this show, we realized we could tell a lot of his life story, simply through things he said on the show. So this week we do just that, with excerpts from some of his favorite stories over the years.